Janet Yellen’s Confirmation

Economist Janet Yellen smiles as US President Barack Obama announces her nomination for as Federal Reserve chairman at the White House in Washington, DC, on October 9, 2013.

Update: The Senate confirmed Yellen as expected. Her term begins February 1.

If the Senate confirms Janet Yellen’s nomination to chair the Federal Reserve, which it is expected to do on Monday evening, it will make Yellen the first woman to hold the powerful position. Yellen has served as vice chair since 2010. When President Obama nominated her in October to succeed Ben Bernanke, he called her “one of the nation’s foremost economists and policy makers.”